The Emperor's Last Victory

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by Gunther E Rothenberg


  6 Oskar Christe, Erzherzog Carl von Oesterreich (3 vols. Vienna, 1912), 2, 71–2.

  7 Eduard Wertheimer, ‘Erzherzog Karl und die zweite Coalition bis zum Frieden von Lunéville 1798–1801,’ Archiv für Oesterreichische Geschichte, 67 (1882), 211.

  8 Rothenberg, 80.

  9 Kriegsarchiv Wien [hereafter KA]. MNKF B 473/55. The first reform period is discussed in some detail in Rothenberg, 86–104.

  10 The second reform period is discussed in ibid., 134–58.

  11 KA, FA (CA) F 11/16. Printed in Criste, 2, 252–7.

  12 Moritz von Angeli, Erzherzog Carl als Feldherr und Heeresorganisator (5 vols. Vienna, 1896–8), 4, 10.

  13 Rothenberg, 160–69.

  CHAPTER 2

  1 Oskar Criste, Erzherzog Carl von Oesterreich (3 vols. Vienna, 1912), 2, 385–7.

  2 Grundsätze der höheren Kriegs-Kunst für die Generäle der österreichischen Armee (Vienna, 1806). The archduke’s strategic and tactical theories are discussed by Lee W. Eysturlid, The Formative Influences, Theories, and Campaigns of Archduke Carl of Austria (Westport, Conn., 2000), 39–65.

  3 Carl Erzherzog von Oesterreich, Ausgewählte Schriften (ed. Franz X. Malcher, 6 vols. Vienna, 1893–4), 6, 356.

  4 Helmut Hertenberger and Franz Wiltschek, Erzherzog Karl. Der Sieger von Aspern (Vienna, 1983), 187–8.

  5 Carl, ‘Denkschrift über die militärischenpolitischen Verhältnisse in Oesterreich von 1801–1809’ in Ausgewählte Schriften, 6, 356–7.

  6 Hans Delbrück, ‘Erzherzog Carl’ in Erinnerungen, Aufsätze, und Reden (Berlin, 1902), 605.

  7 Karl, Ausgewählte Schriften, 5, 153.

  8 Ibid., 357.

  9 Dienst-Reglement für die kaiserlich-königliche Infanterie (2 parts. Vienna, 1807–8), I, 1–2, and 2, para. 5.

  10 Ibid., 19–21.

  11 For more detail on the following sections see Gunther E. Rothenberg, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon (London, 1978), 126–56.

  12 Henry Lachouque, Napoleon’s Battles. A History of His Campaigns (London, 1966), 223–6.

  13 By far the best book on the Rheinbund troops in 1809 is John H. Gill, With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and his German Allies in the 1809 Campaign (London, 1992).

  14 The problem is ably discussed in Robert M. Epstein’s operational study, Napoleon’s Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War (Lawrence, 1994), 40–41.

  15 Col. H. Hess, ‘Gedrängte Darstellung des Feldzuges in Bayern,’ KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee, F 13 402.

  16 Lachouque, 224.

  17 See for example David Chandler’s comprehensive The Campaigns of Napoleon (New York, 1966), 673–80.

  CHAPTER 3

  1 KA, Krieg 1809, 1, 222.

  2 Col. H. Hess, ‘Gedrängte Darstellung des Feldzuges in Bayern,’ KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee, F 13–402.

  3 Eysturlid, 90–92.

  4 La Correspondance de Napoleon Ier (32 vols. Paris, 1858–70), 18, Nr. 15087.

  5 F. Loraine Petre, Napoleon and the Archduke Charles: A history of the Franco-Austrian Campaign in the Valley of the Danube in 1809 (London, 1909), 29.

  6 Epstein, 62–3.

  7 Lachouque, 245.

  8 Ibid., 248–9.

  9 KA, Krieg 1809, 1, 578, 581–2.

  10 The letter in its entirety printed in Edouard Gachot, 1809. Napoleon en Allemagne (Paris, 1913), Appendix J, 429.

  11 Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversaries, 177.

  12 A detailed account of this engagement in Rudolf W. Litschel, Das Gefecht bei Ebelsberg am 3. Mai 1809 (Vienna, 1968).

  13 KA, Kartensammlung Inland Envelope C-1.

  14 O’Reilly’s report on the capitulation, 13 May 1809, KA FA, Hauptarmee, F 5, 264.

  15 L. F. Lejeune, Souvenirs d’un officier sous l’Empire (3 vols. Paris, n.d.), 1, 300–301.

  16 Eduard Wertheimer, ‘Zur Geschichte Wiens im Jahre 1809,’Archiv für österreichische Geschichte, 74 (1889), 164–94.

  17 Correspondance, 18, 15431 of 24 June 1809.

  18 KA, Krieg 1809, 1, 596–8.

  19 Criste, 3, 108.

  CHAPTER 4

  1 Excerpts and commentary of these instructions in Robert M. Epstein, Prince Eugène at War (Arlington, Texas, 1984), 20–29.

  2 Epstein, ibid., 35–8.

  3 André du Casse ed., Mémoires et Correspondence Politique et Militaire du Prince Eugène (10 vols. Paris, 1858–60), 4, 397. Hereafter cited as DCC.

  4 Frederick C. Schneid, Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns 1805–1815 (Westport, Conn., 2002), 66–7.

  5 DCC, 4, 440–41.

  6 Ibid., 5, 134–6.

  7 Ibid., 157–60.

  8 Epstein, Prince Eugène, 77–99, provides a most detailed account of the Battle on the Piave.

  9 Extensive details in KA, Krieg 1809, 2, 474–6.

  10 Orders of 6 June 1809 in Napoleon I, Correspondance, 19, 76–8.

  11 Ibid., 28 June 1809, 186–7.

  12 Charles J. Esdaile, The Wars of Napoleon (London–New York, 1995), 135.

  13 Gill, 321–84 provides orders of battle and tactical details of the revolts.

  14 Marcus Junkelmann, Napoleon und Bayern (Regensburg, 1985), 264–8.

  15 Carl von Clausewitz, On War (ed. and transl. by M. Howard and P. Paret, Princeton, 1976), 424.

  16 Gill, 411–64 provides an excellent detailed account of these small matters.

  17 KA, Memoires III/135, ‘Feldzug in Dalmatien 1809’.

  18 Adolf von Horsetzky, Kriegsgeschichtliche Ubersicht von den wichtigsten Feldzüge in Europa seit 1792 (Vienna, 1905), 216–20, provides a short view of this confusing campaign.

  CHAPTER 5

  1 Ministre de la Guerre, Correspondance militare de Napoleon I (Paris, 1895), 6.

  2 Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversaries, 188.

  3 The memorandum in KA, FA Hauptarmee F, 13–17.

  4 Sources vary on the exact numbers available to Charles but a most detailed summary of various sources is provided by Harold T. Parker, Three Napoleonic Battles (Durham, 1983), 48–9.

  5 Arthur J. Butler trans., The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot (London, 1894) 332–3.

  6 Correspondance, 15189.

  7 James R. Arnold, Napoleon Conquers Austria: The 1809 Campaign for Vienna (Westport, Conn., 1995), 46–8.

  8 The description derived from Manfried Rauchensteiner, Die Schlacht von Aspern am 21. Und 22. Mai 1809 (No. 11 of Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe, Vienna), 1969, 4–5.

  9 See the very critical observations by A. Menge, Die Schlacht von Aspern am 21. und 22. Mai 1809 (Berlin, 1900), 160–64.

  10 Gill, 228–32.

  11 The incident is told in detail by Marbot, 337–40.

  12 General A.J.M.R. Savary, Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo (3 vols. London, 1828) 2, 84.

  13 Criste, 3, 143–44.

  14 Ministry of War, Correspondance militaire, 191.

  15 Manfried Rauchensteiner ed., ‘Das sechste österreichische Armeekorps im Kriege gegen Frankreich 1809’ Mitteilungen des österreichischen Staatsarchivs, 15–16 (1964–65), 187.

  16 E. Buat, De Ratisbonne à Znaim. Vol. 2 D’Essling à Wagram et à Znaim (Paris, 1909); Hertenberger and Wiltschek, 253.

  17 Rauchensteiner, ‘Das sechste östereichische Armeekorps’, 187–8.

  CHAPTER 6

  1 Manfried Rauchensteiner, Dynastie und Heerwesen in Oesterreich 1796–1809 (Vienna, 1972), 100.

  2 Jules A. Paulin, Les Souvenirs du Général Bon Paulin (Paris, 1895), 193.

  3 Buat, 2, 121–2.

  4 Arnold, 117.

  5 A detailed description of the transport and emplacement of the Lobau and adjoining islands is given in Buat, 2, 129–33.

  6 Ministre de la Guerre, Correspondance Militaire, 194–96.

  7 See ibid., 254–55 and, one week later, on 28 June, Napoleon, Correspondance, 15453.

  8 As often the exact number is disputed. Chandler, 709, gives Napoleon 160,000 with more on the way and no fewer than 500 guns, Petre also says 180,000 and 554 guns,
while General Sir James Marshall-Cornwall, Napoleon as a Military Commander (London, 1967), says 175,000. What is not in dispute is that Napoleon disposed of a substantial numerical advantage.

  9 Both letters in Criste, 3, 163–4, 176.

  10 Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversary, 207.

  11 KA, FA 1809 Hauptarmee 13/28.

  12 Christian v. Binder-Kriegelstein, Der Krieg Napoleons gegen Oesterreich 1809 (2 vols. Berlin, 1906), 1, 293.

  13 KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee, F 7 103/1.

  14 KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee, F 7–98 1/3.

  CHAPTER 7

  1 Correspondance, 19, 217.

  2 Manfried Rauchensteiner, Die Schlacht bei Deutsch Wagram am 5 und 6 Juli 1809, No. 36 of Militärhistorische Schriftenreihe (Vienna, 1977), 9, 17.

  3 For the Italians at Deutsch Wagram see Frederick C. Schneid, Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns, 94–6.

  4 The best and most up-to-date treatment on Bernadotte and the Saxons during the night of 5/6 July 1809 is John H. Gill, With Eagles to Glory. 299–302.

  5 Jean Thiry, Wagram (Paris, 1966), 175.

  CHAPTER 8

  1 Hertenberger and Wiltschek, 271–2.

  2 KA, FA Hauptarmee 1809, Operationsjournal.

  3 Rauchensteiner, Wagram, 23–5.

  4 Général Lejeune, De Valmy à Wagram (Paris, 1896), 387.

  5 Arnold, 147, places this incident later in the morning.

  6 Marbot, 386–7.

  7 Vividly described in Arnold, 143–5.

  8 KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee, VI Corps Operations journal.

  9 The shortcomings of the Austrian battle command system are discussed in Rauchensteiner, Wagram, 25–6.

  10 Schneid, 96–7.

  11 Anon. ‘La Grande batterie de la Garde à Wagram,’ Revue d’Artillerie (1895), 437–48.

  12 Henri Lachouque and Ann Brown, Anatomy of Glory (London, 1971), 163.

  13 Friedrich A. Heller v. Hellwald, Der k.k.österreichische Feldmarshall Graf Radetzky (Stuttgart-Augsburg, 1858), 203.

  14 Jacques Etienne Jospeh Alexandre Macdonald, Souvenirs (Paris, 1892), 160.

  15 ‘Disposition zum Rückzug’, 2.30 p.m. 6, July, KA, FA 1809 VI Corps, 7/76.

  16 Schneid, 135.

  17 Chef de battalion Bernard, cited in ibid., 98.

  18 John R. Elting, Swords around a Throne: Napoleons Grande Armée (New York, 1988), 154.

  19 Lejeune, 394.

  CHAPTER 9

  1 Quoted in Louis Madelin, Histoire du consulat et de l’ Empire (Vol. 8, Paris, 1945), 238.

  2 Max R. v. Hoen, Wagram, Vol 8 of Das Kriegsjahr 1809 in Einzeldarstellungen (Vienna–Leipzig, 1909), 79.

  3 Arnold, 173–4.

  4 Ibid., 98–105.

  5 Petre, 377–8; Buat, 278–9.

  6 Cited in Arnold, 173.

  7 Etienne Macdonald, Marshal Macdonald’s Recollections (London, 1892), 346.

  8 Gill, 306–9.

  9 Ibid., 114–16.

  10 Criste, 3, 276–7; KA, FA 1809, Hauptarmee F 7 153.

  11 John L. Pimlott, ‘Marmont: Friendship’s Choice’, in David G. Chandler, Napoleon’s Marshals (New York, 1987), 260.

  12 Hertenberg and Wiltschek, 286–9.

  13 Cited in Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversary, 216.

  14 J. F. C. Fuller, Decisive Battles (New York, 1940), 642.

  15 H.v. Zwiedeneck-Südenhorst, Erzherzog Johann von Oesterreich im Feldzug von 1809 (Graz, 1892), 148–49.

  16 Cited in Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversary, 215–16.

  17 KA, FA 1809, II AK VII–3.

  18 Epstein, Napoleon’s Last Victory, 176–7 and passim.

  19 H. Rössler, Oesterreich’s Kampf um Deutschlands Befreiung (Hamburg, 1940), 71–73.

  20 Criste, 3, 502–7.

  21 Bathurst to Canning, PRO London, Foreign Office, 7 50 and 7 80.

  22 P. Boppe, La Croatie Militaire 1809–1813 (Paris, 1900), passim.

  Index

  Abbach ref1, ref2

  Abensberg ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Aboville, Colonel d’ ref1, ref2

  Aderklaa ref1

  Austrian positions ref1

  Austrian retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2

  final French assault at Wagram ref1

  French attack on the Russbach line ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Adige river ref1, ref2, ref3

  Albert Kasimir, Herzog von Sachsen-Teschen ref1, ref2, ref3

  Alexander I, Tsar ref1, ref2

  Andréossy, General Antoine ref1

  Arrighi, GD ref1, ref2

  Aspern–Essling ref1

  casualties ref1

  Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  artillery

  Army of Italy ref1

  Austrian army ref1, ref2

  French army ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  importance at Wagram ref1

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Aspern ref1, ref2, ref3

  Aspern–Essling, battle of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Aspré, FML d’ ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Auerstädt, battle of (1806) ref1

  Augsburg ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Austerlitz, battle of (1805) ref1

  Austria

  creation of Landwehr ref1

  end of the war ref1

  Poland ref1

  reform of military ref1, ref2

  war party ref1, ref2, ref3

  Austrian army ref1

  I Corps (Bellegarde) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3

  assault on Aderklaa ref1

  attack at Wagram ref1

  Bavaria ref1, ref2, ref3

  Bohemia ref1

  casualties ref1

  final French assault at Wagram ref1

  French attack on the Russbach line ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  I Reserve Corps (Liechtenstein) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  II Corps (Hohenzollern) ref1, ref2, ref3

  Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  assault at Wagram ref1

  attack at Linz (under Kolowrat) ref1, ref2

  Bavaria (under Kolowrat) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  casualties ref1

  final French assault at Wagram ref1

  French assault on Markgrafneusiedl ref1

  French attack on the Russbach ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  II Reserve Corps (Kienmayer) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  III Corps (Kolowrat) ref1, ref2, ref3

  attack on second day of Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  Bavaria (under Hohenzollern) ref1, ref2, ref3

  casualties ref1

  final French assault at Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  French advance to the Russbach ref1

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  IV Corps (Rosenberg) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  assault on French on second day ref1

  Bavaria ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  casualties ref1

  evaluation of performance at Wagram ref1

  final French assault ref1

  French assault on Markgrafneusiedl ref1

  French attack on Russbach ref1, ref2

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  V Corps (Reuss) ref1

  Archduke Ludwig ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Aspern–Essling ref1

  Bavaria (under Archduke Ludwig) ref1, ref2, ref3

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  VI Corps (Hiller) ref1, ref2, ref3

>   Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Bavaria ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  VI Corps (Klenau) ref1, ref2

  assault on second day of Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  casualties ref1

  departure of Hiller and appointment of Klenau ref1

  evaluation ref1

  final French assault at Wagram ref1, ref2

  French advance to the Russbach ref1

  French plans for Wagram ref1

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2

  start of Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  withdrawal of General Hiller from command ref1

  VII Corps (Archduke Ferdinand) ref1, ref2, ref3

  VIII Corps (de Chasteler) ref1

  Advance Guard (Klenau) ref1, ref2

  Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3

  creation ref1

  preparations for Wagram ref1

  Advance Guard (Nordmann) ref1

  attack at Wagram ref1, ref2

  casualties ref1

  destruction of ref1

  evaluation of ref1, ref2

  French assault on Markgrafneusiedl ref1, ref2

  French attack on the Russbach ref1

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  start of Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  Army of Inner Austria (Archduke John) ref1, ref2

  VIII Corps (Albert Gyulai) ref1, ref2, ref3

  IX Corps (Ignaz Gyulai) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  deployment March 1809 ref1

  Hungary ref1

  Italy ref1, ref2

  Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  casualties ref1

  Charles’s reforms ref1, ref2

  corps system ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  nationality problem ref1

  reorganization after fall of Vienna ref1

  Reserve Corps (Liechtenstein) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Aspern–Essling ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  assault on second day ref1, ref2

  creation ref1

  final French assault at Wagram ref1, ref2

  French attack on the Russbach ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  preparations for Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3

  retreat from Wagram ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Baden ref1, ref2, ref3

  Baldacci, Anton Baron ref1

  Baste, Captain Pierre ref1, ref2, ref3

 

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